Looking for an interesting make ahead lunch option that’s nutritious, filling, and easy – and that isn’t a sandwich? Then this meal prep Mediterranean penne pasta salad is for you!

Hands up if you quickly get bored of having sandwiches for lunch?

I certainly do, but usually I have neither the time, ideas, or inclination to make anything fancier.

It’s enough to get a decent dinner on the table every day!

The fanciest I ever get is having leftovers from the night before for lunch. That feels like a real score!

Which is why I’m feeling pretty smug that I came up with this Mediterranean penne pasta salad.

I’m not usually the biggest fan of pasta salads, but I thought I’d try to make one that I would really like.

What usually puts me off pasta salads is the carb overload. There always seems to be far too much pasta to chew through compared to all the other bits.

So what this Mediterranean penne pasta salad has is LOADS of vegetables. Deliciously caramelised roasted vegetables, to be exact.

This pasta salad also has:

a generous amount of tasty basil pesto
a bit of crunch from toasted pine nuts
a scattering of fresh mint (from our garden! It’s taking over, as mint tends to do, so we really need to eat plenty of it before the caterpillars do!)
a sprinkle of feta cheese because, well, feta cheese… (you know I can’t help it)

I’ll admit it takes a bit of time to chop up all the veggies, but once you’ve done that it’s just a case of cooking the pasta and tossing everything together.

Eggplant (aubergine!), mushrooms, rainbow peppers, zucchini (courgette!) & cherry tomatoes – some of my favourite vegetables to roast!

Delicious, nutritious veggies, all ready to roast!

A perfect meal prep lunch!

Now for the best part…

This Mediterranean penne pasta salad keeps really well in the fridge for quite a few days. Which means it makes a perfect make-ahead lunch.

Meal prep is a big thing right now, and after making this I can see why. How smug do you feel when you reach inside the fridge and grab a healthy and delicious lunch that you’ve prepared yourself?

Very smug, if you’re me 😉

This pasta salad recipe makes 4 big portions, so you can make a meal for the whole family or lunch for yourself for almost a whole week.

What to serve with your pasta salad

This also makes a great dinner side dish. We sometimes have it with baked fish or roast chicken, but it would be just as good just by itself.

It’s also a great salad to take along to parties or BBQs. It’s super easy to prepare ahead, and doesn’t spoil or need to be kept warm.

Make it your own

You can include whatever veggies you happen to have, you can replace the pine nuts with another kind of nut (like walnuts or pecans), or just leave the nuts out altogether.

You can scatter with a different kind of cheese, or don’t scatter with cheese at all.

Special diet requirement? Use gluten free or whole wheat pasta, or pesto without cheese and egg-free pasta if you’re vegan.

I like to use penne pasta, but use a different kind of pasta if you like.

Adapt this Mediterranean penne pasta salad recipe all you wish to your family’s likes and dislikes!

I’m also not ashamed to admit that I usually use a good quality pre-made pesto for this recipe. In this case I don’t see the point in making extra work for myself!

I use a good quality store bought pesto for my salad. Sometimes I buy pre-roasted pine nuts, too – just to keep things super easy

Scroll down to below the recipe (top of post on desktop) to see the handy how-to video!

What kind of container should I use?

If I’m making this ahead for lunches during the week, I like to use glass meal prep containers like these ones. They’re good for fridge, oven, microwave, and freezer!

Some other pasta salads that you might enjoy:

This orzo salad with feta, asparagus and chickpeas is off-the-charts delicious. It also makes a great meal prep lunch option!

Another orzo salad – spinach, pesto and parmesan orzo salad. Makes a great side dish!

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